


Try

by lies_d



Category: The Wire
Genre: Gen, Misses Clause Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-22
Updated: 2011-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-27 19:38:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/299333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lies_d/pseuds/lies_d
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shardene wants to build a new life for herself, but the world isn't going to make it easy for her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Try

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Daybreak](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daybreak/gifts).



It was only community college, Shadene kept telling herself. Still, when she got up to the stage to shake the Dean's hand and take her diploma, she looked out to the crowd to see Lester and her mama smiling and clapping just for _her_ , and she felt like a million bucks.

The very next day, Shardene hit the pavement wearing her new suit and her best winning smile to hand out resumes and cover letters to a handful of offices that were hiring. Her college program had left her tired but hungry. She was eager to get out and start a new life. She barely cared about the fact that her student loan would need paying soon.

It got harder to keep up her enthusiasm after the first month, but she kept going. Applying in person to make a good impression was still important to her, but rather than only applying for a few hand-picked openings a day, she started sending out applications in the mail as well. Anything she might possibly be qualified for - she applied for as many jobs as she could.

The day of her first interview, Lester met her for coffee afterwards, just like old times. People still thought they were father and daughter sometimes, but Shardene couldn't care less. She wouldn't ever say she'd been one of those girls who are into older men. But she was into Lester. He made some of the other guys she'd dated seem like puppies in her mind. It wasn't that Lester was more of a man. It was like he knew more about how to be man - like he'd had more practice. As far as Shardene was concerned, practice had made him pretty damn perfect.

Lester held her when she found out she didn't get the job. Told her about some statistic that said that it took most students at least six months to get work after graduating. It made her feel better to know she wasn't alone, but after working so hard for so long, it was awful to think that she still had such a long time to wait.

Shardene didn't get a job after her next interview, or the one after that. One of her friends suggested an internship, but the only ones she could find were unpaid. The student loans were starting to demand attention.

One more interview. Her best suit wasn't new anymore, but she wore it anyways. It helped her through - made her feel confident and articulate and properly successful. The interview went well. One the way home, a nail poking out of a telephone pole ripped a hole in her suit when she brushed past. Shardene figured that if she got the job, she wouldn't need it anymore anyways - she could get a new one.

She didn't get the job.

Shardene was home alone when she got the call. She went to the bedroom and sat looking at all of the beautiful furniture Lester had carved for her. He'd even built her a house for it. But she knew she couldn't expect him to buy her a real house. He'd already done so much for her already, and now she wanted to do for herself. She was trying.

Shardene was so embarrassed she didn't even want to tell Lester. Somehow, when he got home, he saw her eyes and knew. He was perceptive like that, and he even knew the right words to say to comfort her.

When her cousin offered her a job working a cash register at a grocery store, Shardene took it. It was on the other side of town. Long hours for little pay. By the time she got home, she barely had the energy to scan the paper and send her resume by email. She knew she couldn't go on like that.

One day reading the want ads, Shardene found a bar looking for dancers. She'd seen the bar before - passed it on the bus on her way home. It looked clean. Upscale. From the outside anyways. She knew she could make more there on a weekend than she could all week at the grocery store. She'd have more time to apply for a better job, and she could afford to buy herself a new suit.

One night after work when her bus rolled past the bar, she pulled the string and got off. She didn't even need a resume to apply.

Shardene dreaded seeing disappointment in Lester's eyes when she told him, but surprisingly found none. He knew how hard she'd tried, and he knew she wasn't giving up yet. She loved him all the more for it.

Her first night on the job, Shardene took her time dolling up, using the blood reds and glitter she hadn't had to use in years. Turned out the bar wasn't so upscale from the inside. Small time drug dealers littered the tables, and tricks were being turned in the rooms upstairs. The girls were nice enough that Shardene felt bad for keeping her distance. She knew hooking wasn't a disease you could catch, but she wasn't sure how else girls fell into it than by hanging around with other girls who did it.

The only other dancer who didn't hook on the side was named Dina. She was a bubbly young thing who loved to sit and gossip at her while they dressed. Shardene liked her - they got on well. Shardene smiled and nodded supportively when Dina complained about her older sister, who was always trying to get her to take a job in the boring office she worked in. Dina wasn't even qualified for the latest job her sister was trying to push on her - an entry level position that paid even less than dancing.

Well, you can't say pretty forever, Shardene told her. Dina shrugged the advice off. Shardene knew the girl wouldn't have to worry about that for years. She remembered being that young and carefree. Dina would have to grow up someday, Shardene knew. But not today.

With her first paycheque, Shardene bought a new suit. She tracked down Dina's sister and pressed her resume into her hand.

In a week, the job was hers. She'd more than earned it.


End file.
